Stock futures rise on jobless claims, earnings

Weekly jobless claims tick up by less than expected

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — U.S. stock futures shrugged off earlier gloom and edged higher on Thursday after earnings from Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley beat expectations while jobless claims ticked up by less than expected.

Futures were lower earlier following soft earnings reports from Google and IBM after market close on Wednesday.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average
US:DJM4
were last up 17 points, or 0.1%, at 16,348, while those for the S&P 500 index
US:SPM4
were last up 3 points, or 0.2%, at 1,855.70. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index
US:NDM4
rose 12.75 points, or 0.4%, to 3,514.25.

The moves came after all three benchmarks closed in positive territory on Wednesday after upbeat industrial-production data and more dovish comments from Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen. The Fed chief noted that the central bankers and many economists see a return to full employment and stable prices by the end of 2016, which would be the strongest economy in a decade.

The number of people who applied for unemployment-insurance benefits ticked up by 2,000 to 304,000 in the week that ended April 12, a slight increase from the lowest level since 2007, signaling that employers are maintaining a slow pace of layoffs, according to government data released Thursday.

At 10 a.m. Eastern Time, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia will publish its monthly reading on regional manufacturers, with the gauge expected to show a slight improvement to 10 in April, from 9 in March.

Thursday has one of the busiest earnings schedules in the results season, and there also were notable reports late Wednesday.

Shares of Sabre
SABR, -0.81%
the travel-tech firm which owns the Travelocity website, and Weibo
WB, -0.53%
China’s microblog equivalent of Twitter, are expected to attract attention when they debut on the market Thursday. Sabre said late Wednesday its initial public offering had priced at $16 a share, while Weibo priced at $17, the low end of its range, while selling fewer shares than expected.

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